Matthew 6:6 is the epicenter of our lessons because it is the epicenter of private prayer. When Jesus teaches the disciples about prayer He invites them (and us) to the place of one-on-one prayer with God the Father. Speaking from my own experience, this verse holds treasures beyond comprehension. You can not exhaust the depths of these words of instruction from our Master. Dig and dig and you will continue to unearth lessons that will change your prayers and prayer time. Take these words in this verse of scripture and unlock the door to the private place of prayer.
This Secret Place that Jesus tells His disciples about, that He tells them to go to, comes from His personal experience. He is NOT sharing with us something different than He, Himself believes, lives, and knows to be true.
We read of Jesus going to the Secret Place:
- After being baptized by John the Baptizer in the Jordan River to being his public ministry, and BEFORE being tested by Satan in the Wilderness, … where was Jesus? Alone with the Father. Alone—1-on-1 with the Father.
- Luke 6:12-13 says that AFTER spending the night in prayer ALONE with the Father, Jesus came down off the mountain, called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:
Luke 6:12–13 (ESV) — 12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:
- We read of Jesus AFTER healing multitudes of people that He went to bed for some needed rest and then…
Mark 1:35 (ESV) — 35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
- AFTER Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men + women and children, it says,
Matthew 14:22–23 (ESV) — 22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
- BEFORE Jesus went to the disciples on the sea … walking on the water … He was ALONE in the Secret Place with the Father.
- We also read in Luke 9:18 of Him going off to be alone to pray. It was AFTER THIS ALONE TIME WITH THE FATHER—that He returned to the disciples and asked the question that has sounded down thru the ages of time, “Who do you say I am?” and Peter answered, “Christ, the Son of God.”
- We also see Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, BEFORE surrendering his life to be a sacrifice for the sins of the elect, and crying out, “My God, My God, Why has thou forsaken me?” Before they came to arrest Him, tortured Him, and nailed Him to the cross, and then was smitten by God for you, Jesus withdrew alone to pray to the Father.
There are patterns here. Before every big event we see Jesus meeting with the Father in secret. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Not public prayer, but private prayer. Not prayer with others, but 1:1 with the Father. He knew the necessity, do we?
These few incidents recorded in the Gospels are not all of the times Jesus went away to be alone in prayer. This was a daily occurrence. As He taught the disciples to pray daily, He prayed daily. If Jesus understood the necessity to commune with the Father daily in solitude, then … go ahead … apply it to yourself.
When I read these occurrences of Jesus slipping away to pray, I have a few conclusions. I’ll share those in my next post. In the meantime, I encourage meditation on these occurrences recorded in scripture and follow Jesus’ example as one of His disciples. Amen.
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